BUCKTOWN — Sam Garritano set the table and Sarah Dowd cleared it off twice for Owen J. Roberts early in Friday night’s Pioneer Athletic Conference softball contest against Boyertown. And the Wildcats just kept swinging the bats after that as they hit their way to a 9-2 win.

Boyertown, on the other hand, had chances to score a lot more than two, but left the bases loaded three times and stranded 14 runners in all as OJR starter Shannon Clemens made the pitches and her defense made the plays when they had to.

Garritano, who went 3-for-4 and scored three times, lined a hit to left leading off the first, advanced on a sacrifice by Jordan Walker, and came home when Dowd ripped a single past third.

Then Garritano drove a single to right-center with one away in the third, stole second, and scored when Dowd smashed a double to center with two out.

“It’s nice to have Sarah behind me,” said Garritano. “Last year I batted fifth. It’s a little bit of a change. Definitely, a good change. There’s no pressure. We always pick each other up.”

“It’s nice having Sam ahead of me,” said Dowd. “It ends up working. Our lineup is strong up and down. Everybody has their strengths. Everybody contributes. That’s what makes us such a strong team.”

The Wildcats (13-2, 15-2) wound up with six runs in the third for a 7-0 advantage when Clemens followed Dowd’s double with an RBI single, the Bear infield made back-to-back errors, Sara Planthaber popped a run-scoring single to right, and Deanna Miller drilled a two-run double to center.

Meanwhile, Boyertown (8-6, 8-6) wasted a pair of two-out infield hits in the first and then filled the bases with none out in the second on singles by Becky Marburger and Julia Davis and an error. But Clemens fanned the next batter, first baseman Planthaber fielded a grounder and fired home to catcher Lauryn Wensel for a force, and the next batter popped out.

The Bears – who had gotten on the board in the fourth on a walk to Davis, the first of two doubles by Kelli Long, and a groundout to first by Alexis Jacquot – loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. But the Wildcats again got a force at home, this time on a grounder back to Clemens, and a strikeout to end the threat.

“Shannon wasn’t at her best, playing four days in a row,” OJR coach Kevin Kirby said concerning his senior right-hander. “But she was when she had to be, and that’s a credit to the competitor she is. And the defense behind her.”

“It’s tough,” Dowd said concerning her team’s string of games. “But all of us play travel and sometimes you play four games in one day.”

“You’ve got to come focused,” Garritano added. “And we were ready to go.”

The Wildcats finished with 11 hits, including two each by Dowd and Plathaber to go with the three by Garritano.

“Sarah came up big early and got us going a little bit,” said Kirby. “Obviously, she’s had a great year. And Sam had a nice night. If you’re going to score nine runs, everybody has to hit up and down the lineup, and we were able to do that.”

NOTESThe Bears remained tied for fourth place with Perkiomen Valley, a 4-2 loser to Methacton. … OJR reliever Kylie Glenn also worked out of some trouble after Boyertown scored in the seventh on two errors and two walks when she came back from a 3-0 count for a strikeout, Wensel picked a runner off third, Jacquot walked, and the next batter popped to center fielder Dowd. … “Kylie’s been pitching well,” said Kirby. “Two walks and two errors will start a rally for anyone. A 3-0 count, she came back and struck her out.” … Davis reached base all four times for the Bears with two walks and two singles.